andiesenji
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Posts posted by andiesenji
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I no longer grate large amounts of Parm or other hard cheeses. I can order freshly grated hard cheeses and shredded cheeses also freshly worked, from a local deli, including Kashkaval, a rather strong cheese that is terrific in pasta dishes.
I came across this, which I bought in the nineties and never used, stuck it in the back of a cupboard and forgot about it. I had planned to sell it on ebay but 2020 and Covid happened so I unlisted all my ebay items and closed my account. I put it in a box with some other stuff and forgot all about it, again!
I found it this morning, while looking for something else. I may have posted it somewhere on eG a couple of years ago, but not in this thread. I thought you might like to see what was offered by AMCO in 1992.
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I was an "Amazon Vine Voice" for ten years until I resigned from it last October. Amazon would send me items for me to test and write reviews honestly and often mine were very critical.
I got a lot of appliances and the very last one I received was This Sausage Roll Maker
Sausage Roll Maker by StarBlue with FREE Recipe ebook (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)
Which I gave a favorable 4-star review.
I actually didn't use it much, only enough to write my review, I used store bought pie dough and some puff pastry dough.
Yesterday I prepared some regular pastry dough, which is now resting in the fridge. I have plans to try some different combinations of sausage with "inclusions" dried fruits, etc.
It performed better than I expected and can be quite versatile because I believe it would work with many different things, ground meat mixtures without the pastry, mini meatloaves, canapes, etc.
And I did finally download the "recipe book" after the distributor sent me a link via email.
Here's my review.
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8 hours ago, Kim Shook said:
What looks like a huge and untimely recall of ham and other pork products in the US:
https://news.yahoo.com/ham-more-pork-products-being-215000524.html
This is the BULLETIN that was sent out by email yesterday. I just saw it today, yesterday was a bit of a blur for me.
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On 11/12/2021 at 10:13 AM, liuzhou said:
The mortar is about 6 inches wide at the rim and stands about 4½ inches tall, so not huge. It weighs 5½ lbs.
I also have a "collection" of mortar and pestles. My favorite for decades, a huge Mason Cash one from the 1940s that had a rough interior that was perfect for crushing and grinding anything from hard spices to soft herbs. I actually wept when it broke, totally my fault, I always washed it by hand and I was rinsing it and struck the sink divider with the top edge a large C-shaped piece fell off.
The oldest one I still have is a brass one I bought at a Turkish restaurant in the '60s.
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1 hour ago, cteavin said:
This is especially interesting to me -- and good to try because I have so much -- because I assumed the citrus oils would get in the syrup and prevent it from whipping. Did you use any powdered egg white to make up for the extra water?
I used only the meringue powder because it contains Cream of Tartar which will counter the action of oils because I also used the Loraine flavors which are oil-based.
You can also add gum arabic to stabilize if you use only dehydrated egg whites.
As I said, I experimented with small amounts - I used a wand type milk frother for the small batches.
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I never did the brix measurements. I would reduce the syrup until it was about the same thickness as Karo, poured the same and used it 1:1, adjusting the flavoring when it had a strong spice flavor, generally leaving out the cloves and cinnamon and using ground allspice and black pepper in quick breads, muffins and cupcakes.
I also made my version of Italian meringue with the flavored syrups, making small batches for testing. The orange spice meringue on thin slices of pound cake was a favorite with my clients when I was catering.
I would usually have 1 1/2 gallons of ginger syrup or orange syrup after candying large batches.
This is a photo of one of the last big batches of candied ginger I made. It was actually a 15 quart batch but I still had some in the dehydrator when I filled this Cambro container.
P.S. This ginger was all home grown. I maintained a large patch for years and was able to grow it by carefully keeping it deeply mulched with a couple of feet of straw covered by tarps during the winter with some heater strips that are intended to be used under tile floors.
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If the syrups are thin, I reduce them and bottle them. I add spices to some of the orange syrup and simmer it until the spice flavor is pronounced enough to flavor tea. You can use the syrup instead of sugar in various quick breads, cakes, pies, cookies, puddings trifles, etc. I used to make candied ginger in very large batches in an electric roaster so ended up with a lot of syrup. I never had a problem using it up.
I used a mixture of the orange and ginger syrup on cooked carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, winter squash, etc. I roasted ducks bathed in orange syrup.
I used to have a cookbook that had dozens of recipes for maple syrup and i made those with my homemade syrups.
And there are several cookbooks for Karo Syrup both dark and light. Here's a page to get you started: https://cookpad.com/us/search/karo
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2 hours ago, TdeV said:
The knives are light, fit the hand well, and sharp as the devil.
Thanks for the recommendation, @andiesenji !
They are like razors and if one is used to moderately sharp knives, they can be a bit sneaky.
I removed the end of my left thumbnail and didn't even notice until I saw the sliver of nail on the cutting board. I don't know how I missed cutting the thumb itself.
I used one to trim acetate sheets after printing designs on them. The steak knife did a clearner job than my X-acto knife.
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I have some in the fridge most of the time. A minor use is hiding pills for my dog, the only thing that he swallows without tasting.
I smear it on the inside of pocket pita, add cheese, chopped onions, chopped celery, wrap in parchment and microwave for one minute.
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10 hours ago, paulraphael said:
I've occasionally grabbed a Victorinox utility knife for this and it works great—better than any actual steak knife I've used. Things marketed as steak knives are usually serrated and dull. They'd be great at cutting sheetrock for putting in electrical fixtures. But they just tear up meat.
Usually we just use regular table knives. If they couldn't cut the steak then I'd be worried I'm serving tough meat. But to make things even easier on diners, something with a blade like the Forschner/Victorinox utility knives would be perfect. They're fairly cheap, have good steel, good geometry, and you keep them in shape with a nice aggressive edge just by hitting them with a butchers' steel. You'll have to do this regularly, because the steel isn't hard, and steak knives lead a life of abuse (cutting against ceramic plates, etc.) Are the Victorinox steak knives similar to the utility blades?
Yes. Same construction, same metal. The utility knife I had was 1/2 inch longer and had a straighter handle. This new version has a handle shaped like the paring knives, more comfortable to hold. I can't find the old utility knife, it is probably in my "less used knives" box.
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On 10/20/2021 at 11:44 AM, SLB said:
I have had success halving a recipe for a bundt cake (or a cake designed to be made in that kind of pan), and then baking the half-recipe in a loaf pan.
But can any-ole' cake recipe be halved and made in a loaf pan???
I guess I mean, can a cake recipe meant to be baked in a regular cake-pan be successfully reduced and baked in a loaf pan? It seems like the pan might matter . . . .
Help! Please! Quick! I'm helping a five-year old struggling with the covid-divorce of her parents make a cake in a few hours for one of the parents. Everybody but me is quite grumpy, and needs cake, but not a big-ass cake that is going to just sit around and make the parent sad when the kid leaves for the other parental home.
Aii.
I know this has been answered and the cake baked and all that BUT I thought I would add this for anyone in the FUTURE that has this "problem" of needing to bake a cake when one doesn't have or can't use a larger or bundt type pan.
Don't try to reduce the recipe. Make the batter for the "normal" size pan and then put it in whatever smaller pans you have, loaf pans, square or rectangular pans, even cupcake tins. This method will save a lot of angst in trying to figure the ingredient measurements and as a bonus, you have some extra cake.
And remember that cakes can be frozen and when defrosted, taste as good and can even be "refreshed" by putting them into a heated oven for 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the size.
6 to 12 cupcakes in the cupcake tin, can be reheated at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.
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This is my tomato knife, also for slicing fruits very thin - kiwi fruit especially - with this I can slice them so they are translucent. It's like a razor and I do have a ceramic rod sharpener for it - and the two extras I bought.
Made by Rada, very inexpensive and performs better than more expensive knives.
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21 hours ago, Kim Shook said:
Thank you all so much. I've put the ones that @andiesenjirecommended on my wishlist, as I think I'd prefer no serrations.
I don't like serrated knives except for specific tasks and cutting meat is NOT one of them. I have two serrated knives for bread, one with a 9 inch blade and fine teeth for tender crusts and fine crumb. The other has a 12 inch blade with wide teeth for the very crusty artisan breads with more open, firmer crumb.
I have a special "tomato" knife that also has wide teeth for tomatoes and similar fruits.
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Not serrated. Smooth edge. You can get a set of 6, like I have or a set of 4 if you don't need as many.
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I have several Victorinox knives, including the inexpensive set of 6 "Swiss classic" Steak knives that I actually use as utility knives for tasks that are usually for paring knives.
They take an edge well with just one of the "pull through" hand held sharpeners and slice cleanly through just about everything, even hard cheeses.
Most recently I used one for mincing raw chicken gizzards this morning and it was effortless.
I've had and tossed out some very expensive steak knives that were worthless.
I got the set of Victorinox from Amazon.
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This is a listing of the Chestnut Growers of America, 2021.
I'm pretty sure you can contact them to find out which retailers in your area carry them. The Chinese chestnuts definitely are not suited for candying, apparently the flesh is too dense to absorb the syrup.
I had excellent results with imports from Italy, from Turkey and the California "colossal" variety and I think growers in other states produce this type, Washington state and Idaho. Those are the only ones I actually tried.
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I found my "recipe/method" for candied chestnuts from the last time I made a correction in 2009. Actually the last time I made them, having been gifted with a 5 pound box from an American grower in northern Calif. Sadly, I don't recall the name of the company, the guy's name was Alan or Alex and he was a friend of mine who breeds dogs and horses, definitely NOT a foodie but who enjoyed the stuff I prepared and took to dog shows when I was still showing. My retired champion Basenji will be 15 on November 2 so it has been a while.
I had forgotten that I had made so many changes to the recipe in the last couple of years that I prepared them. The previous method, in the crockpot was what I used for 20 years.
Candied Chestnuts
There are several recipes for candied chestnuts on the internet. Most instruct you to boil the shelled chestnuts but I find that too often this produces a mushy result.
This recipe takes about one week to complete.
This is for one pound of chestnuts in the shell, it’s easy enough to double the recipe.
I cut the chestnut shells, steam them for about 8 minutes, which is long enough to loosen the shell and the cuts begin to curl.
I remove the shells, return the chestnuts to the steamer for an additional 2 minutes to make it easier to remove the inner skins and veins.I change the water in the steamer, rinse the pan and the steam tray well and return the chestnuts to it and steam them for no more than 5 minutes, I begin testing with a thin skewer at 3 minutes and as soon as it penetrates easily, I remove them and blanch them in cold water and immediately drain.
I make my own vanilla syrup ahead of time
For one pound of chestnuts.
1 1/2 cups sugar to 1 cup water,
one whole vanilla bean,
add to the syrup and bring it to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Leave the bean in the syrup.If you have made your syrup ahead of time and it is cold, bring it to a boil and add the chestnuts, stirring constantly and cook at a low boil for 8-10 minutes.
Transfer to a canning jar and set aside to cool. Place the lid loosely on the jar and leave overnight, 18-24 hours.
Make a small batch of new syrup, 1/2 cup sugar to 1/2 cup water, bring to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes.
Add the chestnuts in their syrup (with the vanilla bean) bring it to a boil and cook for 5-8 minutes.
Remove from heat, return to the jar and soak for another 24 hours.You will need to repeat this process (do not add more syrup unless there is not enough to partially cover the chestnuts) four more times – figure on it taking almost a week altogether, although the soaking can be extended for up to 2-3 days if you need to.
By the end of this process there should be only a little syrup remaining and the chestnuts should have a slightly translucent appearance on the surface.
Remove the vanilla bean, rinse it well and allow it to dry. It still has some uses.
Place a wire rack on a sheet pan and handling the chestnuts with care, place them on the rack so they are not touching.
Put them in a cold oven and set the heat at 225. Set your timer for 30 minutes and when it sounds, turn off the oven. Do NOT open the door.
Leave the chestnuts in the oven for an hour.
At this point the surface of the chestnuts should be just slightly tacky.You can set the sheet pan on the counter and leave them to dry further or if you wish, you can roll them in coarsely granulated sugar.
I have a dehydrator and do not use my oven to finish them. I put them in the dehydrator at medium-low heat (115° F) and leave them for 24 hours.
I buy the little paper nut cups at Smart & Final and store the chestnuts in them in a single layer in a cookie tin.
I don’t know how long they will keep, they never last long enough for it to be a consideration.
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I used to candy chestnuts and I think I posted about it back around 2007 when I posted about candying ginger and several dried fruits, citrus peel and etc.
Like the dried fruits and the sliced ginger, I steamed the chestnuts in the shell and then slowly simmered them in vanilla syrup (French style) actually keeping the syrup below a simmer using a crock pot.
I originally found the technique on a French language site for, I think, holiday foods. I had to copy the various recipes and paste into a translator page because the site didn't automatically translate.
I had done a search for "Marrons Glacé" to find that site. Which also had the procedure for whole glacé fruits.
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1 hour ago, lindag said:
I hadn't been seeing posts from you in a while; I'm glad you're still in touch.
Since late May, we had unrelenting high temps - several times more than a week with 100+ temps - and no real breaks below that, so I haven't felt much like cooking or baking. My health has been just so-so, no real illness, just at 82 with cardiac and kidney failure, I don't have the energy I used to have.
I do drop in from time to time to read posts but haven't had much to report.
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I had a credit from an earlier return, plus a small gift balance and used it for a backup microwave when one appeared on my "upcoming bargains" list at 3 a.m. Pacific time. Was extra large (2.2 cf) and 1250 watts at a fraction of the regular price. Panasonic NN SD975S for $99.99 ($288.37).
The tax was more than my out of pocket cash.
It's still in the box, unopened because my present one is still working though there is no light inside.
And I need to get help to get the old one out and the new one out of the box and onto the MW counter because it is too heavy for me to lift at 37 pounds.
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If you have some smaller ones, the not yet ripe ones are ideal for making glacé pears.
This will not work with ripe pears, they fall apart.
I also used to make Pear Mostarda, a wonderful condiment to serve with duck, pork, lamb, and game, especially venison and boar meat.
https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2016/06/07/pear-mostarda
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On 5/23/2020 at 9:21 AM, Porthos said:
@chefmd Impressive. Given that the numbers relate to the "eye" size on a stove, the owner of such a pan would have to own a very large stove.
Where I grew up in western Kentucky, these were often used on kerosene heater stoves that were about 15 inches in diameter and the entire top would heat anything when the top "radiator" was removed. They were usually used on a porch or even in a barn. On my grandpa's farm, every barn had one of those heaters and the grooms often cooked their midday dinners in such pans or the largest iron skillets that were 18 inches in diameter, especially in the winters.
My grandparents cook had several of the huge skillets and used them on the big wood/coal range that was in use in the winter - helped heat the kitchen - but also on the 2 Estate ranges (8 large burners) that were fired by "bottled gas."
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1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:
I shall never again run out of cubeb. Possibly I never had cubeb. Most likely I have cubeb and cannot find it.
Allspice? I use 2/3 allspice 1/3 white pepper as a substitute.
Black pepper works about as well.
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That was a problem with those old Mirros. I had three teens using the ones I had and the tops wouldn't stay on
so I drilled holes in each side and use little 1/4 inch sheet metal screws to hold them on, starting with the smallest I could find. After a while the soft aluminum would enlarge so I would go to a larger diameter screw.
This worked just fine for the few year the kids wanted to do that. The things are cheap but they do the job.
I haven't made press cookies for a few years but I still have several presses.
The last time I used a cordless, battery operated one.
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The cost of food
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
I've never used Rao's, or most pasta sauces from the store as I make my own.
However, I have a large jar, 32 oz, 2 pounds that I got for free. The city put me on the "elderly low income" list and I get a delivery of free food every two weeks and this was in one of the deliveries a few weeks ago. My income is Social Security but since I was well paid during the 55 years I worked, it is adequate but Lancaster is very socially conscious and is determined to take care of seniors wether we want it or not. Since I am 83 and over the age 80 line, I get free food, free internet and landline phone, annual examinations of my furnace, cooler and roof, plus my gas and electric is at a reduced rate.
Anyway, now that I know it is supposed to be a premium or expensive brand, I will use it instead of giving it to my neighbor, which is where much of the donated stuff goes. The last delivery had a can of "imitation" abalone in it. I'm allergic to iodine so can't have anything that comes out of the ocean. I get my fish from a friend that fishes the California aqueduct and catches sturgeon, which he smokes and it is delicious. I don't want to stray off topic this time.
I have all my groceries delivered now as I find it difficult to even drive to pick up at curbside.
Walmart's prices have gone up, especially on meat but last week I got one of the pork loin roasts that was priced at $2.12/lb, the total price was $10.28 while all the other pork was four to six dollars a pound. Beef is out of my range, chicken isn't too bad. I cut the loin into thick slices that will be pounded into "cutlets" and rolled around a filling similar to turkey dressing. I got 10 1-inch plus slices.
Oddly, butter hasn't gone up so I stocked up and froze most. I also bought 6 quarts of heavy cream and froze all but two - I can make my own butter from that.
The deli at the middle eastern market hasn't raised the prices at all so I bought some cheeses, including grated and shredded. They deliver for free if I buy $40.00. Also a selection of olives.
So I'm fixed for the next two to three months for everything except fresh vegetables and fruit.